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High Annual Percentage Rate? You Can Negotiate!

The battle between the consumers and the credit card lenders is one that will not cease to exist. And, in this never ending battle, the consumer does wield some power.

Despite the fact that the credit card lenders are still reeling under the tremendous losses they experienced during the recession period coupled with the newly enforced credit card rules and regulations, financial experts say that the consumers still have an option of negotiating the interest rate on their card with their lenders.

Pew Charitable Trusts' Safe Credit Cards Project's director, Nick Bourke, said that the credit cards companies are as willing today to negotiate on the interest rates as they were before.

Many consumers, in the recent past, faced a lot of concerns while trying to negotiate on their APR with their respective lenders.

However, with the Congress implementing the CARD Act in February this year, the concerns began to fade away.

The CARD Act outlines that the credit card companies cannot increase the interest rate on the card if the account has been opened within the last six months. Arbitrary increases in APR and double cycle billing concerns have also been addressed in this Act.

The banks and various financial institutions did warn the Congress about the adverse impact of this Act on the consumers and lenders, even before the legal advisors began putting this together.

In May 2008, during a hearing session with the Congress, American Bankers Association's Chief Executive, Edward Yingling mentioned that the financial bodies were concerned that the rules implemented in the Act will lead to lesser choice for customers, increase in interest rates, fewer credit cards being given to customers and lesser competition in the industry.

Till date, most of the predictions made by him during this hearing session seem to have come true.

Anticipating the rules to get tougher in the coming months, many credit card companies increased the rate on the cards last summer. Though this is the underlying reason for the increase in the APR, the banks camouflaged the facts by telling that the rate increase was to combat the number of customers who were not able to make their payments on time due to the financial crunch.

The rates have continued to trend northward since then. The national average APR stood at 11.31% for platinum card holders and at 12.33% for rewards card holders, as mentioned by Informa Research Services. The rates stood at 10.6% and 11.8% respectively till six months ago.

With the Virgin / Barclaycard signature offer, there seems to be some consumer deception or maybe even outright fraud goin on. I decided to jump on this offer.. read all the info on it.. was approved for their platinum card, paid the fee, then was only awarded 10,000 points instead of the advertised 20,000. When i inquired about the less than advertised bonus points, Barclaycard claims only Signiture Visa cardmembers get the 20,000.. as a platinum cardholder, you don't qualify for that level of bonus, so you get 10k instead. Well, in their current ongoing promotions, it states plain as day that....
Applicants approved for the Visa Signature or Platinum Card with $49 annual fee will receive 20,000 Bonus Points awarded to your Virgin America Rewards Account at the close of the first billing statement in which you make your first purchase or balance transfer (that is not returned or rescinded) and have paid the Annual Fee on the account (and such fee is not rescinded).
They don't mention anything about a separate program for platinum cardholders.. However, trying to get someone to resolve this issue with either Virgin or Barclaycard seems to be rather impossible..
Seems to me they're simply drawing people in with the fraudulent offer, then simply saying, oh, we're sorry you don't qualify.. but thanks for signing up for our garbage credit card with insane fees..

CreditLandCom

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. We have reviewed this offer and you are correct, nowhere it is mentioned that 20,000 Bonus can become a 10,000 Bonus all of a sudden... We will mention this in our review of this card so others can make an informed decision.
Another way to get Virgin miles is to get an American Express charge card:
The Business Gold Rewards Card® now offers 50,000 Miles, though you do have to spend $5,000 in the first three months of card membership to get it. It also has $0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $175.
http://www.credit-land.com/details/the-business-gold-rewards-card-from-american-express-open.php
Premier Rewards Gold Card now offers 25,000 Miles, though you do have to spend $2,000 during your first three months of Card membership. It also has annual fee of $0 for the first year, then $175.
http://www.credit-land.com/details/american-express-premier-rewards-gold-card.php
While we do not know If any of these offers make sense to you, we are at least sure that you will get advertised bonus in full if you decide to get them...
Conversion rates for Virgin America are:
100 Elevate Points =
200 Membership Rewards® Points
All the best.

Deborah Ellsworth

would very much like to start a new credit history by making payments on time I would tohave a credit card that is NOT PREPAYID! I don't need a card with a high limit just something to start a new credit history.
Thank You Deborah Ellsworth

Deborah Ellsworth

I would very much like to start a new credit line to get back on track. I DO NOT WANT A PREPAID CARD!! This new credit card if I am approved does not have to hace a high limit just something for me to start over again and prove myself
ThankYou.
D Ellsworth

Miss Edna

there is a huge problem with the RFIP chip: it is easily compromised. There are already 'readers' in the form of what looks like a cellphone in a case, that scans all the info in the chip by merely walking near a person -- this 'reader' penetrates leather, cloth, spandex, etc. The only thing it will NOT penetrate is METAL. Perhaps one has seen commercials touting metal credit card cases. Here is my hint for a free fix: cut a piece of aluminum foil or use the foil that is used to keep foods fresh, like coffee. Cut it so that when folded once, it forms a sleeve for your credit card. place the credit card in the sleeve, then place the sleeve in your wallet.

Robin Parks

I am looking to apply for the AARP Visa signature card from Chase that offers $100 after spend $500 in first 3 months, no annual fee and 0% interest first year; I don't want to mail in offer because of having to write in Social security #. Can you direct me to the proper on-line site?

Once you have applied, you should receive a letter within 10 business days letting you know if you were approved and when your card will arrive. If you did not receive any letter or notification from the issuer, you should contact them directly. Also, you should contact the issuer if you’ve been waiting for your credit card longer than 30 days.
Since we are not a bank and don’t issue credit cards, we cannot give you any information about your application or credit card.

SavingStar

Thank you for posting about SavingStar. Just to clarify one sentence in your article, we have over 5 million members (not 500). Thanks, Josh

CreditLandCom

Sorry for the misprint. We’ve corrected the sentence. Thank you for noticing that.

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